Movie Review: '100 Nights of Hero' A Familiar Fairy Tale

Why spend a thousand nights fending off the patriarchy when an hour and a half will do?

Isabel Greenberg’s graphic novel 100 Nights of Hero comes to the screen as a boldly idiosyncratic feminist fairy tale, courtesy of writer-director Julia Jackman. Set in a world just a little different from our own — men dictate women’s lives to them, including their reproductive destinies, with harsh penalties for the “sins” of learning to read and write, much less failing to conceive — the story concerns Cherry (Maika Monroe) as she faces a dilemma: Get pregnant, or die so that her husband, Jerome (Amir El-Masry), can marry someone presumably more fertile. The source of the problem, however, is not infertility, but rather Jerome’s lack of interest in his wife. From their wedding night on, Jerome has put off consummating the marriage. (It’s strongly implied that he is gay.)

(Amir El-Masry in 100 Nights of Hero. Credit: IFC)

When Manfred (Nicholas Galitzine), an old friend of Jerome’s, comes calling, it seems as though there might be solution. Jerome invents a reason to be absent for several months and all but dares the handsome, womanizing Jerome to seduce his wife while he’s gone. Turning it into a wager, Jerome bets his castle and its contents… a tempting offer, since the “Beaked Brother” in Jerome’s town has appropriated Jerome’s castle for himself. (The Beaked Brothers seem to be highly placed church officials, something like a cross between a bishop and a Christian nationalist with a healthy dose of the Inquisition thrown in for good measure.)

(Nicholas Galitzine and Maika Monroe in 100 Nights of Hero. Credit: IFC)

Manfred would be a temptation all on his own, but for the desperate Cherry he’s the only possible way out of an impossible situation. Still, she hesitates, appalled by Manfred’s all too obvious sexual interest in her. Her maid — the titular Hero (Emma Corrin, playing a less royal character than her turn in The Crown but still regal) — is happy to help deflect Manfred’s energies, spinning a tale about a trio of sisters (one of them played by Charli XCX) who defy the patriarchy.

(Olivia D’Lima, Charli XCX, and Kerena Jagpal in 100 Nights of Hero. Credit: IFC)

A “Game of Thrones” irreality funneled through a Ren Faire lens gives the film a sense of heightened reality, which in turn amps the comic touches scattered throughout. The movie is a little on the nose (if the grrrl power vibe threatens to slip by, you’ll be more than alerted to the core message by the presence of three moons in the sky), but its winking humor carries it along. Snappy, colorful, and sometimes slipping into dreamlike enchantment despite (or maybe because of) its overt artifice, 100 Nights of Hero wears its herstorical cinematic influences proudly on its sleeve.

“100 Nights of Hero” premieres in theaters December 5.